I recently moved to San Fran to attend dental school at UCSF and was hoping to find a group of Hobie sailors here in the bay. I know that there is no San Fran specific fleet but perhaps some of you are based out of here and would be willing to show me the hotspots or take me out on the water. Perhaps someone would even be willing to show me around the local marinas (I do a lot of keelboat sailing too). I will be buying a 16 or 18 pretty soon but I just have to figure out all the logistics, primarily, storage.

Welcome to the area. Aside from Fleet 281, 2, and 20 there isn't a well organized group of Hobie sailors in the immediate area around San Francisco. As for storage, I moved my boat to private storage a couple years ago so I'm not up on where to store it.

For places to sail, go here, here, and here. The Santa Cruz harbor is a good place to launch, but speak to Jeremy at Surf City Racing for details on launching. The Turkey Regatta was held in Monterey last weekend and launching from the municipal beach was nice and easy, mainly because there was no wind.

Cal Sailing at the Berkeley Marina is a good place to scratch a dinghy itch but due to the shallow water and ferocious winds it is not recommended to sail a cat from there unless you have a mast float.

One problem with sailing SF Bay are few affordable of mast-up storage places near a beach launch but you could try some checking with yacht clubs to see what their storage options are. I used to sail out of Crown Beach in Alameda a lot but rigging and unrigging my H18 boat for one afternoon of sailing took the fun out of it. The Redwood City marina offers mast-up storage right next to a launch ramp which is great if you don't mind making the drive, and the Richmond YC is strong on racing.

I keep my Hobie 18 on the beach in Santa Cruz during the summer where Fleet 240 is.

Mast up beach storage is available on Harbor Beach in Santa Cruz for about $50 a month from April through October which can then be converted to harbor parking lot storage November through April.

Depending upon surf conditions, you can either use beach wheels to launch from the Harbor ramp or directly off the beach.When in doubt, I go out and/or in through the Harbor ramp. Fleet 240 has a set of wheels in a lock box on the beach.

Justin,Get an H18 and come join us lowly H18 sailors for the Division three series. The fleet is low key and a lot of fun. I live in San Leandro and my boat either lives in San Leandro or Alameda in the dry storage at Alameda Marina. Come out to the first race in May at Woodward Reservoir. Also show up at either of the last two Richomond YC midwinters (richmondyc website for more info) and talk to some of the hobie sailors. Ryan